Kal-El's Starcraft
Kal-El's Starcraft was a small, self-programmed Kryptonian spacecraft that carried Kal-El from Krypton to Earth. It was built by his father Jor-El with the intention of preserving their race, which was facing impending extinction. It successfully transported Kal-El to Earth, and was hidden in the Kent Farm's shed for 33 years, after which the starcraft was used to send Dru-Zod's followers back to the Phantom Zone, destroying it in the process. History Journey to Earth passing the Moon on his way to Earth|232x232px]] The starcraft, equipped with a Phantom Drive, was built for the purpose of saving the Kryptonian race. After retrieving the Growth Codex, Jor-El and his wife Lara Lor-Van placed their newborn son Kal-El into the ship along with a Command Key, saying their goodbyes to Kal-El. As Lara did the final launch procedures, Jor-El put on his battle armor, as General Zod and his followers arrived, seeking the Codex. Jor-El valiantly fought his former friend and ultimately defeated him, as Lara successfully launched Kal-El's starcraft. Zod, however, fatally stabbed Jor-El, just as the latter watched his son depart. Determined to get the Codex, Zod ordered a Sword of Rao pilot to shoot Kal-El's starcraft down, but at that moment, the Phantom Drive activated, opening a portal through which the starcraft disappeared, just as Zod and his men were outnumbered and captured by the Sapphire Guards. The starcraft emerged near Saturn and promptly made its way to Earth, flying right by the Moon. It landed undetected in the rural town of Smallville, Kansas, where it was found by local farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, who promptly adopted the infant inside, naming him "Clark" and hiding his true origins from others and even Clark himself for most of his childhood. Revelation of Clark's Heritage to Him When Clark was thirteen, the school bus he was on fell off of a bridge into a river, and he single-handedly pulled it out without hesitation. His actions caused some religious hysteria amongst the parents of some of the children that had been present, most notably Pete Ross's mother Helen Ross. This made Clark feel like an outcast, leading him to question the reasons behind the differences between him and all of his peers. Realizing that it was finally time to reveal the truth to his son, Jonathan took Clark into a secret basement under the barn, which had contained the starcraft he arrived in all of these years, and clearing any doubts, Jonathan confirmed that Clark was in fact an extraterrestrial, much to the latter's shock. Discovered by Zod Twenty years later, Zod and the surviving members of the Sword of Rao came to Earth after receiving a distress signal from a crashed scout ship that Clark had inadvertently activated when placing the command key from his starcraft into the ship's control panel. After Clark willingly surrendered to him, Zod and his loyalists went to the Kent Farm in search of the starcraft, believing it held the Growth Codex, though Faora-Ul was unable to find it within the craft, greatly angering Zod. Shortly thereafter, however, Jax-Ur used a sample of Clark's blood to determine that the Codex's genetic information was in fact inside Clark himself, bonded with all of his cells. Portal to the Phantom Zone |244x244px]] After Lois Lane plugged the House of El Command Key into the Black Zero's control panel, Jor-El appeared and explained a viable plan to Lois on how defeat Zod and his men, and she in turn explained it to Clark: Collide his starcraft's Phantom Drive with the Black Zero's to create an unstable energy singularity which would suck all of Zod's forces back into the Phantom Zone. Clark and Lois brought the starcraft to the Peterson Air Force Base and explained the plan to General Calvin Swanwick, Colonel Nathan Hardy, and Dr. Emil Hamilton. They then put the ship aboard a C-17 as a makeshift bomb. When the plane finally came in close proximity to Black Zero, Lois tried to active the starcraft's Phantom Drive by inserting Clark's Command Key, but it wasn't accepted by the starcraft. Unable to put it in, Lois was blown out, as Faora came to stop the plane and thus undermine the plan. Fortunately, Hamilton managed to realize just in time that the starcraft's panel needed to be turned and successfully inserted the key, activating the Phantom Drive, while Hardy crashed the plane into Black Zero, opening up the singularity, sending everything nearby into the Phantom Zone. Ultimately, while the plan was successfully executed (with only Zod remaining on Earth), it came at the cost of Hardy and Hamilton's lives, with only Lois escaping the singularity's pull due to Superman's timely intervention. Appearances *Man of Steel Prequel *''Man of Steel'' *Man of Steel (Novel) *Man of Steel: The Early Years *Man of Steel: The Fate of Krypton *Man of Steel: Superman Saves Smallville Trivia *This is the second time in Superman live action media that the ship has the House of El symbol on it; the previous time was on the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. *When Jor-El explains Clark's origins to him, the liquid geo representation of the starcraft that appears in the projection of the cockpit room slightly resembles the version seen in Superman (1978). *According to Colonel Hardy, the starcraft weighs about 7.71 tons. Category:Superman Category:Man of Steel Category:Kryptonian Category:House of El Category:Spacecraft Category:Kryptonian technology Category:Objects Category:Aliens